So, now that I’ve closed my cake business I’m finally ready to start posting some of my cake recipes. Year after year, this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake was one of my most popular flavors. I guess it’s not surprising since everyone loves chocolate chip cookies. I can’t count how many customers said “I’m not really into cake, but I love this cake”. If you’re one of those people who like cookie dough as much or more than the actual cookie, this is a cake for you.

Brown Sugar Buttercream – where have you been all my life?

First of all, there’s a giant cookie layer at the base of the cake. That alone would be enough to make me love this cake. But I think the best part is the brown sugar buttercream. The butterscotch/cookie dough flavor is completely irresistible.

I spent hours playing with recipes, with varying results, until I finally realized that it wasn’t necessary to create a new recipe. Can you guess what the difference between granulated and brown sugar is? A little molasses! Granulated sugar is just sugar that’s had all the molasses removed. Dark brown sugar has a little more molasses than light brown sugar.

So, lightening bolt, to make brown sugar buttercream I just had to add molasses to my regular Italian Meringue Buttercream recipe. This was the perfect solution for me since I made buttercream in large batches for my cake business. I didn’t want to stop and make a separate batch of buttercream for the Chocolate Chip Cookie cakes.

Click on the video to see how-to put together and perfectly ice a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake:

Spread the dough into the cake pan. The dough should be about 1/2" thick (if you have excess dough use it to make cookies)

Bake until the middle of the cookie puffs up a little and then collapses, about 20 minutes.

Cool completely in the pan

Flip the pan over and bang one edge of the pan a couple of times. The cookie should loosen and fall out

Set aside at room temperature until ready to assemble the cake

Bake the Cake

Line two 8" or 9" cake pans with parchment rounds

Toss the chocolate chips with the tablespoon of water until moistened. Sprinkle the all purpose flour over the chips and toss to distribute the flour. Set the chips aside while you make the cake batter

Mix the Vanilla Butter Cake according to the recipe, folding the chocolate chips into the batter just before the whipped egg whites

Pour 1/3 of the batter into one pan and 2/3 of the batter into the other pan

Spread the batter evenly and bake until the cake springs back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes depending on pan size.

Cool the cakes in the pans for 5 minutes

Run a small spatula around the cakes and remove them from the pans

Cool the cakes completely

Wrap each cake in plastic and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight (see note 1)

Make the Brown Sugar Buttercream

Make the according to the recipe. Mix in the molasses at the end

Divide the buttercream in 1/2, reserve one 1/2 for icing the cake, use the remaining for filling

Place the chocolate chip cookie layer on a serving platter or cardboard cake circle

Spread the ganache evenly over the cookie

Place one of the cake layers on the cookie

Brush the layer generously with rum syrup

Spread 1/2 of the buttercream reserved for the filling onto the cake layer

Place another cake layer, sprinkle with syrup and spread with remaining filling

Top with the last cake layer and sprinkle that layer with syrup

If the cookie base is bigger than the cake layers you can trim the cookie so its even with the cake layers

Crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of buttercream and chill until the crumb coat is set

Ice with a final coating of buttercream, reserving a little buttercream for decoration.

Pipe a border around the top edge of the cake and decorate with mini chocolate chips

The cake will keep at room temperature for several days

Notes

1-You can use the cake as soon as it cools to room temperature, but it's easier to trim and split when it's cold.
2-All the components of the cake can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen until ready to assemble.

Reader Interactions

Comments

What? Is this like the cake of my dreams? How have I never thought of or seen anything like it before?!
I'm like many of your former customers--not really a cake person but I LOOOOVE cookies. Especially chocolate chip cookies. I may or may not be found hiding in a closet finishing off an entire dozen one day. I think this is the birthday cake I've been wishing for my entire life.
Well, I don't bake much, but I think I found my new resource.

Your chocolate chip cookie cake looks delicious and it's such a pretty cake, too. It popped up on my twitter feed and I had to come have a closer look. Pinning and putting this on my to make list. I'm not sure if it's the cake or the frosting I'll love most!

That's great, Rebecca. Let me know if you have any questions. Remember that all the components can be made ahead and frozen. Take them out, let them come to room temperature, then assemble the cake. Hope your son loves it.

You did it again Eileen. This is my new favorite cake recipe! :) I made it for my honey's birthday and it was probably the most delicious cake I've ever made! Your directions were great. The cake turned out super tender and moist. This was my first time making Italian Buttercream frosting and this will be my new go-to frosting recipe now! Omg it was so light and buttery like whipped cream but held together so well for piping. I had no idea it was such a good frosting! I've always been too intimidated to make it but your directions were so well done, it came out perfect the first time. Thank you for sharing such an wonderful recipe!

I was looking for a new recipe to make for my husbands' birthday next month and this looks like the winner! What better thing the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies in a cake! Would adding nuts to the cookie or cake parts change the composition of it to alter cooking time? Would you try adding nuts to the cake and cookie part or just the cookie section? Thank you. Can't wait to make this.

Hi Lauri - Are you thinking chopped walnuts or pecans? You could definitely add nuts to the cookie. If you want to add it to the cake I would toss the chopped nuts with the chocolate chips and add them along with the chips. Let me know how it turns out. If you want to post a photo on my Facebook or Instagram page that would be great. I'd love to see it.

I just made this cake last weekend for my daughters birthday. It turned out amazing! Everyone said it was one of the best cakes I have ever made and I could not believe how quickly it was gone. I don't do many cakes from scratch so i was a little nervous it wouldn't turn out but I just followed the directions and it turned out great. Thanks for sharing the wonderful recipe. I will be making this one again soon.

Hi Linda. You have no idea how happy that makes me! The mission of this blog is the prove that scratch baking is not so scary! I'll be posting more layer cake recipes in the future. Hope you try them, too.

Hi Mira, the time will vary based on how thick the dough is and how your oven bakes, but I would estimate about 20 minutes or so. Usually, the cookie will puff up and then the middle will collapse a bit. That's how I know it's done. But cookies are pretty forgiving. If it's a little under or over baked it will still taste great.

Hi. Thanks for the comment. I added estimates in the recipe for baking the cookie and the cake layers. The times are just starting points. The best way to know if something is baked is how it looks.
For the cookie layer, generally I notice that the cookie puffs up a bit and then collapses. That's usually when I take it out of the oven. This generally takes about 20 minutes. If you like your chocolate chip cookies a little under-baked you can take it out when the middle of the dough looks set.
For the cake layers; the best way to know if it's baked is to gently press the middle of the layer. It should spring back without leaving a dent. You can also use the "toothpick" test to see if it's baked. Again, the layers take about 20-25 minutes. But the exact time will vary based on the type of pan used, the size of the pan and how your oven works. Also, the half full pan will obviously bake faster and may be done in 15-20 minutes. It's great to use a timer to remind you to check the oven, but always go more by how the baked item looks than the exact time.
Hope this helps.

Hi Jeanette. If you click the link to the ganache recipe you'll see the proportions. The ganache recipe might make a little more ganache than you need, but it freezes very well. You could also make half the ganache recipe as listed if you don't want any left overs.

Hi. I would very much love to make this cake this weekend for my little family, but as i live in Romania, i am not familiar with the United States measurement system and i am afraid that if i will use the internet to convert the quantities into grams i will ruin the recipe (i've tried that before and it did not turn out well ). Is there a chance that you could give me the version of the recipe in grams, if it ia not too much to ask of you?
Thank you very much!
Well wishes from Romania! ❤️

Hi Alina. Thanks for pointing out that the weights were needed. I've been updating my old posts with US and metric weights and didn't get to this one yet. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope your family enjoys the cake. For future reference, this website has very reliable information regarding ingredient weights and conversions.

This. Looks. Phenomenal. I'm actually making it for my boyfriends birthday this weekend. Just a question, would it hold up to put some ganache between the cake layers as well? I wanted to do a ring of the brown sugar butter cream and fill the middle with ganache but with being so new to layered cakes I didn't want to screw it up. Any advice would be much appreciated. So excited.

Hi Andrea. Yes, this cake can hold up to ganache. That would make a super-rich cake, if that's what you're after. You could also put a thin layer or ganache (like peanut butter on a sandwich) and then a layer of brown sugar buttercream on top of the ganache (again, like jelly with the peanut butter). But if you want to go super-chocolatey then all ganache would be the way to go. Just be sure your ganache is nice and soft when you spread it. Don't refrigerate it before spreading since it's gets stiff when it's cold. Also, it's always easier to stack and assemble a layer cake if the cake layers are cold. Enjoy!

Thanks so much! Decided to forgo the ganache in the middle and you were right, it would have been way too rich that way. It came out absolutely amazing and my boyfriends family loved it. I topped it with extra ganache and edible cookie dough balls. Thanks again :)

Hi Marlene. My recipes are all available at Meal Planner Pro and they list the nutritional information. To get the accurate information, you'll need to also look at the recipes within the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake recipe; for example the vanilla cake recipe, the buttercream recipe and the ganache recipe. Hope this helps!

I just made this cake this morning and I am disappointed. The buttercream frosting is not sweet at all. I followed all the directions. This was very long process for a making a cake. I bake every week for my husbands workers. The cake is pretty, just not sweet like I expected a butter cream to be.

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Baking is an art and a science, but it’s not rocket science. Anyone can bake if they have a good recipe and the helping hand of a seasoned baker. I’m a pastry chef and lifelong baker. I enjoy sharing my well-tested recipes with bakers of every skill level.Read more….

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